Something MAD in the State of Denmark

When somebody wishes to describe an eclectic or bizarre gathering, it is commonly called a Mad Hatter's Tea Party—referencing Lewis Carroll's famous fictional food event consisting of random remarks interspersed with riddles. If the recent MAD food symposium, held in a circus tent in Copenhagen, was compared with Carroll's, the organizers would probably feel that it had exceeded their expectations.

René Redzepi, chef of Noma, notionally the top restaurant on the planet, and founder of the MAD Symposium (madfood.co; Mad is Danish for food), opened the two-day event by asking the several hundred participants what they thought they were doing on an island near Copenhagen, under a striped circus tent in the colors of the Swedish flag, surrounded by goose droppings. "We want to share information to make our food better, but above all, more delicious," he told the audience.

This certainly wasn't the typical gathering of famous chefs, food manufacturers, foodies and public-relations types that usually congregate at these festivals and fairs. Unlike every one of those events I have attended, this time there was no sponsorship or involvement by any food manufacturer or kitchenware salesman.

"It's so refreshing to be involved in something where there is no danger of offending sponsors—it gives you a sense of freedom to talk about anything you want," said Ben Shewry, founder and chef of Attica, Australia's leading exponent of the Noma philosophy of locally sourced food. "The other great thing is the sincerity and desire of the whole Noma team to promote good things and bring people together, which is why I have gone to considerable expense to bring over three of my sous chefs from Melbourne."

It wasn't just the philosophy that was different; the atmosphere, with its whooping, whistling and cheering, was more akin to a rock festival than anything else. Events kicked off with blaringly loud speakers playing Metallica's "One," while Tahir Dalager, a local beatboxer, introduced the afternoon sessions with a smörgåsbord of nonverbal musical sounds.

One of the most frustrating elements of conventional food festivals is the desire to have famous chefs on stage making dishes, which for me is a task best left to television. The closest the MAD Symposium came to such an event was a lecture by Scottish diver Roderick Sloan, who lives above the Arctic Circle in Norway, where he is renowned for diving for sea urchins. He handed out discs of salted ice and asked symposiasts to place them on their lips for a mere two minutes, telling them: "I am submerged for two hours at a time, so this will only give you some idea of what it feels like."

Although the ostensible theme of the symposium was "Appetite," speakers took a fairly broad interpretation of this and instead expounded on their favorite hobby horses. New York chef David Chang discussed why MSG is harmless, while British food activist Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall talked about the threat to our fish stocks. Mexican chef Enrique Olvera waxed lyrical on the virtues of rotten bananas, and London's Fergus Henderson on the joys of tripe. Ferran Adrià, Spain's Modernist chef from the now-closed El Bulli, ended proceedings with notes on the changing role of cutting-edge chefs in contemporary cuisine.

Although the majority of participants appeared to be 30-something chefs and foodies from all over the globe, there were some surprise guests such as French-born Daniel Boulud from New York, who confessed he hadn't yet eaten at Noma, though he had spent two years cooking in Copenhagen in the late 1970s. "Even 30 years ago, Denmark was very creative, culinarily speaking, because the Danes are big travelers, far more than the French," he said.

Attending an event such as this reinforces how diverse the current food scene is at the very top end. Another of the chefs present was Björn Frantzén, co-founder of Stockholm's two-star Michelin Frantzén/Lindeberg, which one would assume has much in common with Noma. However, Mr. Frantzén only went to Noma for the first time last year and while he likes its language, says he doesn't limit himself just to the Nordic region. "What matters for me is the quality of the ingredient, not where it comes from," he said. "I think I have more in common with certain Japanese kitchens, but I am using Scandinavian ingredients to achieve this."

Perhaps that is what makes New Nordic, or seasonal/natural, cuisine such a potent movement; it is more dependent on a philosophical approach than a physical region or actual cooking style. And in the current era of concern about the environment and freshness of produce, the MAD Symposium certainly hit all the right buttons. Next year's symposium will be curated by Mr. Chang, the Korean-American chef behind Momofuku. The topic? Guts.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.